


Anthem of the Angels

by CaliBDiamond



Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel
Genre: Action, Drama, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-02-05
Packaged: 2017-11-28 06:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/671204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaliBDiamond/pseuds/CaliBDiamond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mission goes horribly wrong for Tony and Syri.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anthem of the Angels

“Do you think you’re ready for this?” Tony asked as he watched Syri change into one of her tight-fitting bodysuits, complete with the bulletproof lining that the two of them had designed together. The brunette shrugged, pursing her lips as she bent to lace up her boots, double checking to make sure they wouldn’t come undone and trip her up while she was out there with him.

“Guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?” Pulling her dark hair back in a ponytail, the younger woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You got my Plugs?”

“Yeah,” Turning to rifle through a bag, Tony found a small box and handed it over. Watching as Syri opened it and took out the two high-tech earplugs he’d created for her for their first official mission together, the billionaire smiled faintly and cleared his throat. “I upgraded those a bit, by the way. They should completely drown out the repulsors now. I isolated the frequency and tweaked them. You’ll be able to hear everything else around you, except those.”

“Seems a bit risky, don’t you think?” Pocketing the earplugs, Syri walked over to where her guns were hung up on the wall. Taking each one down to check the clips, she loaded them into the holsters and looked around, gnawing at her lip. “Where’s my wrist com?”

“On your wrist.” Tony pointed, shooting her a look. “And I like to think my aim is pretty good. I won’t hit you with a blast, if that’s what you’re worried about, princess.”

“Right.” Shaking her head, Syri turned the tiny computer on, squinting at the screen while it loaded. Completely ignoring Tony’s response, she looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “You said you loaded JARVIS onto this?”

“I did what I could. There isn’t enough memory on that thing for the entire program. He’ll be able to give you most of the information you’ll need. The com is synched to the earplugs, so he can feed the info without giving away your position.”

“Thanks.” Stepping away to open her locker again, Syri searched through a small stack of gadgets and picked up something that looked like the thumb and index piece of a glove. Pulling it on, she fiddled with it for a moment and held a hand out to Tony. “Let me see your SHIELD access pass.”

“Sure.” Fiddling with his wallet, Tony extracted the card and handed it over, watching curiously as Syri turned it over and swiped the tip of her gloved finger over the magnetic strip on the back. Fixing a set of odd looking glasses onto her face, she walked over to one of the doors leading into the locker room and dragged the same finger down the slot where one would usually slide the card. Tapping a button on the side of the glasses, she lowered herself to the eye scanner and waited for the chime to sound before the door opened.

“Good. It works.” Turning around to give Tony back his pass, she raised an eyebrow at the look he was giving her. “What?”

“When did you throw that together?” He pointed to the glove and the glasses. “Is this another one of your secret projects?”

“I got bored a while ago when I was going through some archive footage for Agent Hill, so I put this little baby together. It’ll get us into the compound a little easier.”

“Don’t you need an access pass for it to work?”

Smirking faintly, Syri dug into one of the pockets of her bodysuit and held up the pass for a delivery truck driver. “Swiped it off of a guy in that bar you took me to last week. You’re right about that dress, by the way. Renders men absolutely dumbstruck.”

“A smart ass _and_ a pickpocket. How did I get so lucky?” Tony snickered, snapping his fingers.

Despite the nervousness building inside of her, Syri laughed. She almost felt like she had to in order to regain some normalcy back in her brain. She had been doing everything she could since earlier that morning, to push back the horrible thoughts that always seemed to bubble up whenever she went on a field mission. It didn’t help much that Tony had made a comment about wishing she’d stay in the surveillance van instead of running into danger with him. But the brunette was far too stubborn, and insisted that he needed a second pair of hands to get into the compound undetected. Blasting through the front gate would spell trouble for him, even with the suit.

“You look pale, Syri.” Tony got up from his spot on the bench and brought a hand to the side of Syri’s face. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I told you before, Taplight,” Syri pulled away from the brunet, heading back to her locker for her helmet. “I’m coming with you. Period.”

“I just don’t think you’re in the right place for it, princess.”

“You’re doing it again. You’re second guessing me. I fucking hate it when you do that, Tony.” Turning to look back at her lover, Syri scowled and pulled the helmet on. Glaring at him through the visor, she huffed and reached for the keys that hung on a hook just inside the locker, slamming the door shut once she’d pocketed them.

“I don’t want you to get hurt. Is that such a bad thing?”

“Oh please,” rolling her brown eyes, Syri sneered as much as she could with the majority of her face covered. “How many times have we done this now? Why do you continue to choose me to go out into the field with you if you’re just going to question me every time?”

“I’m only questioning you because the last time we went out on one of these stupid missions together, you barely made it out alive.” Tony frowned, narrowing his dark eyes in return. “You have a nasty habit of getting yourself captured, De Luca.”

“And _you_ have a nasty habit of being an asshole, _Stark_.” Turning to leave and load up into the van that would take them close enough to the compound for them to breach it on foot, Syri let out a grunt when Tony caught hold of her elbow and hauled her back.

“Don’t walk away from me.” His voice was low, with no trace of the frustration that had been evident in his tone before. “Please, Syriana. I’m just concerned.”

Tearing her helmet off so fast that she nearly lost her grip on it and tossed it across the room, Syri twisted around and raised a hand like she was going to strike the man standing behind her. As usual, she stopped just before her palm hit his cheek; it hovered there, trembling lightly as Tony stared back down at her unblinking.

“I hate you sometimes,” the brunette murmured, swallowing hard when Tony took hold of her hand and kissed the palm. “I really do.”

“I know you do.” Tony kissed her hand again, dipping his head to steal a quick one from her lips. “Don’t forget those grenades I gave you.”

“They’re too bulky,” the younger woman murmured back, leaning in to rest her forehead against his. “I’ll be fine with the guns.”

“Take them,” he brushed his lips over the bridge of her nose. “Please.”

Nodding lightly, Syri heaved a sigh and pulled back to grab the little strap of round grenades from the bench. Attaching them to her belt, she looked back up at the billionaire and forced a smile. “You ready, _Iron Man_?”

“Suit’s in the van, Agent.” Tony smirked back, taking the helmet away from Syri to gently put it back on her head for her. “Let’s go.”

X+X+X+X

“Okay, this is as far as we go, you two.” The driver up front called when he’d parked the van.

“Thanks,” Tony muttered, looking over at Syriana when he felt her getting up beside him. He started to reach for her hand to catch her attention and double check that she was _still_ up for this, but the little brunette was too fast and had thrown open the doors and was already hopping out.

“Come on,” she said quietly, barely glancing back at him.

“Plugs,” Tony reminded her, moving to jump out behind her.

Mumbling under her breath, Syri took her helmet off long enough to put the earplugs in place. Replacing the helmet, she tapped the com on her wrist and cleared her throat. “JARVIS?”

_Here, Miss De Luca._

“Good. Just checking.” Looking over to Tony, the brunette nodded at him and started to head towards the main gate to the compound, keeping her eyes out for any foot guards near the control panel. “ _Tony_ , can you scan the area for me?”

“Already on it, gorgeous.”

“Do me a favor and stay back for a few, yeah?” Crouching behind a bit of shrubbery, Syri waited for the All Clear before taking out the delivery access pass in her pocket to scan it. “I’ll call you when I’m in.”

“Fine. Just be careful.” Tony advised, looking around as he ran an infrared scan of the area. “Make it quick, De Luca. You’ve got three guards wandering the place. Closest one is about two hundred yards to your right.”

“Thanks,” Creeping up to the code-box at the front gate, Syri glanced around and swiped her finger down the card key receiver, holding her breath as she waited for the results. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure if the information on the card would grant her access to the place. A lot of these compounds had two separate entrances; one for deliveries, and one for everyone else. She exhaled slowly in relief when the fence clicked and began to open, moving to slip through the slim opening and rush inside to find a good place to hide until the guard passed. “Tony, I’m in. Hold your place for a minute.”

“ _What_? Why?”

“Just do it!” she hissed, peering around the corner of one of the buildings to see where the guard was.

 _Miss De Luca_ , JARVIS’ voice sounded in her ear and nearly made the brunette jump out of her skin. _It would be wise to move from this location._

“Why?”

“Because you’re about two seconds away from having Hell rain down on you, Syri, _MOVE!_ ” Tony’s voice echoed in her ears and Syriana bit her lip before she bolted from her hiding spot. Behind her, she heard the repetitive blasts from a pair of assault rifles, and skid on the pavement when she rounded the corner of another building.

“Tony!” the brunette panted into the receiver built into her helmet, reaching to unholster one of her guns. “Now would be a good time to move in!”

“Two steps ahead of you, princess.” Tony muttered back.

Over the sound of the gunshots, Syri could hear the mechanical whirrs from Tony’s suit, and spun around when the sound of heavy footsteps turned a corner and headed straight for her. Raising the pistol, she fired off a few shots and got up to find a better place to hide. As she ran and did her best to dodge bullets, Syriana couldn’t help thinking that maybe, _just maybe_ she should have stayed in the van this time. Tony’s suit could repel bullets easily. The bodysuit she wore only stopped them from killing her.

Shouting out when she felt one punch through the back of her thigh, Syri fell to the ground hard, her helmeted head bouncing off of the pavement beneath her. Groaning as she tried to sit up, she raised her gun again and took aim, just barely managing to catch one of the approaching men in the shoulder.

“JARVIS?” she muttered breathlessly, trying to drag herself behind one of the metal doors that had been left open. “What the hell is that beeping noise?”

_It appears that one of your grenades has been set to detonate. I would suggest—_

“FUCK!” Dropping her gun, Syri reached for the belt holding the grenades, tearing it off and heaving the thing as far away as she could. Managing to scramble to her feet, she started to limp around the building to find a place to take cover. “TONY! FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

“WHA—?”

The billionaire’s shout was cut off by the explosion, the frequency of which could not be blocked by the plugs in Syriana’s ears. The brunette let out a loud shout as a piercing noise shot straight into her ears, and frantically tried to get her helmet off. Tossing the thing aside, she dug the plugs out of her ears and threw them aside, staring at the blood staining her fingertips. She jumped when the flash of a second explosion startled her, and wondered dumbly why she couldn’t hear it. Even as the ground shook beneath her, the brunette turned and tried to run. She had to get back to the van, had to get herself to safety before the third grenade went off.

She was just turning the corner when she found herself face to face with the business end of a pistol. The bloodied hand of the man that held it shook horribly as he shouted at her. But his words were wasted. Syri couldn’t hear a damn thing over the almost violent ringing in her ears. Shaking her head at him, she tried to back away, slumping against a wall and reaching for the second gun in her holster.

The first shot punched straight through her suit and into the soft flesh of her arm beneath it, the pain making her scream so hard that her throat felt like it was on fire. She couldn’t hear it, of course, but she knew someone else could. Breathing hard, she turned to look at the damage done to her, ignoring the way the man in front of her was gesturing with the gun and aiming muted threats at her. The second bullet hit her shoulder, and she swore she could feel the bone shattering from the force. Syri almost didn’t have enough breath to scream this time, her vision blurring as the pain took over her whole body. She managed to shout out again when he grabbed her by the back of her hair and forced her to kneel with her face pressed to the pavement.

Syriana let out slew of panicked gibberish, screaming for Tony, for JARVIS, for anybody that would do _something_ to get her out of this situation. She only stopped when the muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of her neck, the heat from the last shot burning her skin. Swallowing the bile in her throat, Syri stared blankly at what she could see off to the side of her. The blue shots of light from Tony’s repulsors were everywhere, and for the first time since the Chitauri incident, she wished that she could hear them.

Closing her eyes again, she sucked in a harsh breath and let it out in a sob.

“ _TONY!_ ”

X+X+X+X

Tony could hear the screaming and the gunshots, but he couldn’t zero in on Syriana’s whereabouts. He’d tried shouting back at her for her location, but the woman was either refusing to answer, or she _couldn’t_. The thought of the latter made his stomach turn. He’d blasted through as many of the gunmen as he could, but the explosion from Syriana’s grenades had taken care of the majority of them. So much for attempting to make this a casualty free mission. When it appeared that there wasn’t anyone left to worry about, Tony searched this way and that, squinting through the smoke and throwing out a scan for any sign of his lover.

“JARVIS?” he didn’t like the way his voice was shaking. “Have you got her?”

_Sir, fifty yards to your left._

“Is she alive?”

_Vital signs are low. Should I send for backup?_

Touching down on the pavement, Tony ran towards where JARVIS had pointed Syri out, opening the helmet to avoid vomiting on himself when he caught sight of the brunette sprawled out on the ground. She was paler than he’d ever seen her, with bruises and blood smearing her skin. There were bulletholes in her bodysuit. The specially designed lining had failed to do its job.

_Sir?_

“Backup.” Tony repeated, moving slowly towards the younger woman’s form. “Call them. Now, JARVIS.”

_Vitals are dropping, sir._

“Fuck. _FUCK_.” Tony picked up the pace, kneeling beside Syri. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure there was anything he _could_ do. Her chest barely moved as she breathed, and she didn’t stir when he touched her face. There wasn’t enough time to wait for the van. They didn’t have the necessary equipment to keep her alive on the trip to the hospital, either. But then again, neither did he. However, Tony knew he could get to where they needed to go _much_ faster. Sucking in a deep breath, he closed the helmet again and scooped Syriana into his arms, taking to the air with a hard push from the ground.

“JARVIS. I need you to locate the nearest trauma center for me. _NOW_.”

X+X+X+X

Tony couldn’t keep still as he paced the lobby of the hospital. He didn’t know who to call. Syri didn’t have anyone left. Her mother had died earlier in the year, her father had been dead before he met her, and her brother was off somewhere out of the country with his wife. He’d thought to call Rhodey, or maybe even Pepper, but neither of them would be able to offer much comfort. Steve would be no help, either. The supersoldier would probably just try to rip him a new one over losing sight of her during the gunfire. But it wasn’t his fault. The explosion had rattled his sensors, and nearly cut off his communication completely. He’d have to remember to tweak those damn grenades later.

The doctors had said Syriana might not be able to hear properly for a while, _if_ she survived the surgery. She’d lost so much blood by the time that they’d reached the hospital, that there had been mutterings of her needing _transfusions_ and such. Honestly, most of the medical bullshit had gone straight over Tony’s head. He’d never been a big fan of learning all the terms and such that doctors used. Well, maybe now was a good time to start.

Raking his fingers through his already mussed hair, Tony chewed the cuticles of his free hand anxiously. Fuck, he wished he had a cigarette. Or some Xanax. Or even a shot of scotch. Maybe he could convince one of the nurses to give him a handful of Valium. He needed _something_ to calm his frazzled nerves. This _was_ his fault. He’d brought her along and let her convince him that everything would be okay. He should have known better after the last fiasco. Syriana was good behind a computer screen, and sure, she was a decent shot with a pistol, but she just wasn’t cut out for the tough shit anymore. What nerve she’d had before, had been cut out of her the day that her fuckhead ex boyfriend had conned her into going on that unauthorized mission with him.

But _damn_ , did that woman try her ass off to prove that she could handle herself. Despite all of her anxieties and mental shortcomings, she insisted on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping her head held high. She wanted to prove she could be a hardass like the rest of the SHIELD field agents, and she could put up a pretty good front long enough to get them into where they needed to go. But once the shit hit the fan, that woman was notorious for losing her nerve.

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony snapped out of his thoughts and looked around to find a doctor standing just off to the side. His expression was hard to read, so the billionaire did his best to prepare himself for whatever the man had to say. Walking over, he raised an eyebrow, taking in a deep breath. “How is she?”

“We’ve managed to remove the bullet fragments and stop the bleeding. However,”

Tony tensed, his stomach clenching as it filled with ice. He didn’t like having that word tacked on to the end of things. It never meant anything good.

“It appears that her entire left eardrum has been destroyed. She’ll need to be fitted with a hearing aid after she’s through healing if she’s to regain any of her hearing on that side.”

“Can I see her?”

“I’m afraid not. She’s still in surgery.”

“ _Still_?” Tony didn’t mean to raise his voice, but his nerves were just so shot that he couldn’t help himself. “Jesus Christ,”

“We’re simply stitching her up, Mr. Stark. Once she’s been cleaned up and moved to a room, I’ll see what I can do about getting you in to see her.” The doctor said quietly, shooting Tony a sympathetic look.

Muttering a half assed _thank you_ , Tony turned on his heel and stomped back to the lobby. Sitting down hard in one of the chairs, he put his head in his hands and rubbed his palms over his face. He knew he ought to feel relieved that Syri had made it. But he was having a hard time getting over the fact that she’d been hurt so badly in the first place. Part of him wanted to cry, but the other part told him it was pointless. There was no real reason to cry, after all. Except maybe in relief.

Leaning back in his seat, the brunet closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall, jerking a bit when he felt someone’s hand rest on his shoulder. Blinking up at a young looking nurse, he blinked and cleared his throat. “Yeah?”

“Dr. Umstead told me to come and collect you. Syriana is awake.” The woman said quietly, smiling at him.

“Jesus,” getting to his feet, Tony looked around for a clock. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Not for long.” The nurse smiled wider, leading Tony down a hallway to one of the recovery rooms. Through the glass, Tony could see Syri laying on a bed, her left ear bandaged and the rest of her looking like hell. Ignoring the woman beside him, the billionaire quickly opened the door and walked in.

“Princess?”

Syri stirred, weakly picking her head up to stare at him. Her pretty face was still bruised and swollen, but at least the blood had been cleaned up. It looked like there were stitches in her cheek and above her eyebrow, and Tony cursed himself for ever getting her involved in this job. And when she lifted a shaking hand and tried to reach for him, the older man lost it.

“ _Jesus_ ,” Hurrying to the brunette’s bedside, Tony took her hand gingerly and gathered her to his chest when she clutched at the front of his shirt. Bowing his head he buried his nose in her hair, doing his best to ignore the smell of smoke that still lingered in the dark strands, and squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden prick of hot tears welling in them. He was _not_ going to cry, Goddammit. He couldn’t. He had to be the strong one, here. But oh God, the thought of how he’d almost lost her was almost too much to bear.

“Tony,” Syri’s voice was tight and scratchy, and just a touch unsure. “Tony, I’m sorry.”

The sound that escaped the billionaire was a cross between a scoff and a sob. Shaking his head, he kissed the top of her head and shook his own. “No. No, princess, _I’m_ sorry. I should have kept a better eye on you.”

“It’s not your fault.” The younger woman mumbled, shifting in her spot on the bed with a wince. Her whole body ached, but she was determined to be closer to Tony. “Please don’t blame yourself.”

“What happened out there?” Tony asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

Syri shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about it right now. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she wrapped an arm around Tony and pressed her bruised cheek against his chest, letting her dark eyes fall on the reactor glowing beneath his shirt. Frowning a little when she realized she couldn’t quite hear the usual hum that the thing made, Syri looked up at Tony and knit her brows together. “Did they tell you about my ear?”

Nodding, Tony gently ran his fingers through the brunette’s hair, casting a faint smile down at her. “Don’t worry. You know I’ll build you the best damn hearing aid implant I can.”

“They’re going to take me off the field permanently now.” Syri sighed, looking back to the blue glow of the reactor. “They’ll probably consider me _disabled_ after this.”

“Fuck what they think.” Tony made a face, shaking his head. “You’re not _disabled_ , Syriana. You were injured. Fury is missing an eye, and he does just fine.”

“It was the earplugs. They freaked out when the grenades went off. All I could hear was this horrible screeching noise. I can still hear it, kind of.” Making a face, the brunette heaved a sigh and grumbled, snuggling her cheek against Tony. “Tired.”

“I can imagine they’ve got you pretty doped up here, princess.” Tony smirked faintly, twirling the ends of Syri’s hair around his fingers. Looking to the various wires and tubes hooked up to the younger woman, he couldn’t help thinking about how damn close the situation had been. If he’d taken just a few seconds longer to find her, she might not have made it. The thought had him squeezing her closer until he heard her whine in protest.

“Tony,” Syri planted a hand on his stomach, trying to push herself back a little. “That hurts.”

“Sorry.” Easing up his grip, the brunet sighed heavily and looked around for a chair. “Why don’t you get some sleep, princess? I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I’d like to see them _try_ to throw me out.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, please.” Syri yawned, reluctantly letting go of him to settle back against the pillows. She watched as Tony stepped away for a moment to snatch a chair from the other side of the room and brought it back over. He sat down, making a face at how uncomfortable it was, and reached to curl his fingers around Syri’s, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

“I won’t do anything stupid. I swear.” He promised.

“Good.” Closing her eyes a little, Syri sighed quietly and gave Tony’s hand a squeeze. “Don’t blame yourself, either. Or I swear I’ll kick your ass so hard when I’m better, you won’t be able to sit for a week.”

Chuckling in spite of himself, Tony shook his head and gave her knuckles another kiss. “Whatever they’ve got you on, princess, I want some of it.”

“I’d give you the IV, but it’s dangerous to share needles.” Syri smirked back tiredly, letting her eyelids flutter shut the rest of the way.

Tony only smiled in response, feeling about ready to pass out himself. Looking around the room, he got up from the chair, shaking his hand free from Syri’s, and toed his shoes off before carefully climbing onto the bed beside her. Making sure he wasn’t lying on any vital tubes or wires, the billionaire gently draped an arm over her and rested his head on the pillow beside hers. He knew he was going to be made to move at some point; hospitals just didn’t allow this sort of thing. For now, he was content to stay right where he was, listening to Syri breathe quietly in her sleep while his brain began to ponder plans for that hearing aid.


End file.
